Machine for grinding and polishing steel or other metallic pens.



. Patented Apr. 8, I902. J. W. MILLIGAN &.- H. RALLINGS. MACHINE FORGRINDING AND POLISHING STEEL OR OTHER METALLIC PENS.

(Application filed Oct. 21, 1901.

5 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

No. 697,383. I Patented Apr. 8, I902.

.1. w. NILLIGAN & H. BALLINGS, MACHINE FOR GRINDING AND POLISHING STEEL0R OTHER METALLIC PENS.

(Application filed Oct. 21, 1901.)

5 Shuts-Sheet -2.

(No Model.)

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Patented Apr. 8, I902.

J. w. MILLLGAN & H. RALLINGS.

MACHINE- FURGRINDING AND POLISHING STEEL OR OTHER METALLIC PENS.

(Application filed Oct. 21. 1901 5 Shook-Sheet 3.

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No. 697,383. Patented Apr. 8 I902.

J. MILLIGAN & H. RALLINGS. MACHINE FOR GRINDING AND POLISHING STEEL 0HOTHER METALLIC PENS.

(Application filed Oct. 21, 1961.) (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

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N0. 697,383. Patented Apr. 8. I902.

J. W. MIL'LI GAN 8:. H. RA LLINGS.

MACHINE FOR GRINDING AND POLISHING STEEL 05 OTHER METALLIC PENS.

(Application fil ed Oct. 21, 1901.)' (No Model.) -5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ENGLAND.

MACHINE FOR-GRINDING AND POLISHING STEEL OR OTHER METALLIC PENS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 697,383, dated April 8,1902.

Application filed October 21, 1901. Serial No. 79,478. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, J AMES WARD MILLI- GAN, director and secretary, andHENRY RAL LINGS, engineer, subjects of the King of Great Britain,residing at Perryan Works, Lancaster street, Birmingham, England, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Grindingand Polishing Steel or other Metallic Pens, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention has relation to machinery to be used for grinding andpolishing pennibs, but principally applicable for crossgrinding suchnibs.

The improved machine is of that type in which a series of pen-grippershaving springclosed jaws are mounted upon a traveling endlessconveyer-band, so as to present the curved top sides of the said pens ornibs to the periphery of an emery-bob or similar grinding-wheel, and inwhich provision is made for automatically opening the jaws of eachgripper for receiving the pen to be ground (which is fed into the jaw byhand) and effecting its release after the grinding operation has beencompleted, the conveyer being automatically kept taut or in a propercondition of tension to obtain the necessary pressure for effecting thegrinding as the pens are carried over the grinding-surface.

The objects of the present invention are to simplify the construction ofmachines of this class and to render the same efficient and certain intheir action and to improve the feed arrangements whereby the machinerymay be run at ahigher rate of speed, which said objects are attained,first, by the employment in connection with the feed-table of meanswhereby the hand-feeding of the nibs into the gripping-jaws is madepositive and easy of accomplishment without the proper and regular feedbeing dependent entirely on the skill of an attendant; secondly, by sodisposing the grippers relative to the conveyerband that the jaws travelin advance of the lever-arms in moving around with the said band, and,thirdly, by extending the length of the conveyer-band, so as to enable alarger number of grippers to be mounted thereon, and by employing inconnection with such extended band a supplementary guide-pulwherebysagging and oscillation are prevented, an even pressure is applied tothe pens, and true cross-grinding is insured.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents a side elevation of across'grinding machine embodying our improvements. Fig. 2 represents,upon an enlarged scale, an elevation of that end of the machine at whichthe improved feed arrangements, the supplementary guide-pulley, and theband-tensioning device are located. Fig. 3is a plan view of the sameparts as are shown in Fig. 2. Figs. 4 and 5 are both longitudinalvertical sections of Fig. 3 upon the dotted line at, but in thefirst-named figure the two gripper attachments represented therein areboth shown closed, Whereas in Fig. 5 one of the said grippers is shownheld open by the cam or wiper provided for that purpose in order toadmit of the feeding of a pen-nib between the jaws thereof. Fig. 6 isanother longitudinal vertical section of the same parts of the machineas are shown in Fig. 2; but the section is taken upon the dotted line soto show the arrange ment of the slide on which the supplementarytensioning-pulley is mounted. Fig'7 is an end elevation of Fig. 2. Fig.8 is an enlarged View of a part of Fig. 3, showing the feed arrangementsmore clearly.

The same numerals of-reference indicate corresponding parts in theseveral figures of the drawings.

A cross-grinding-machine construction in accordance with our inventionconsists of a table or bed-plate 1, supported upon legs or standards 2and having an extension 3 bolted to one end. Upon the top side of thetable and its extension are arranged a series of brackets or bolsters 4,5, 6, and 7, with the brackets 4 6 on the table carrying guide-pulleys 89, While the. extension 3 forms the support for the bracket 7, in whichthe supplemental guide-pulley 10 and the tensioning arrangementshereinafter described are mount ed, and running around the said pulleysis an endless conveyor-band 11, upon which a series of pen-grippingattachments 12 for carrying around'the pens to be ground and presentingthem to the grinding-surface are secured. The grinding medium with whichthe machine represented in the drawings is provided consists of anemery-wheel 13, mounted on a spindle 14, supported between the oppositesides of the bracket 5 and driven by means of a band and a pulley 16 orin any other convenientmanner. Theconveyer-bandis made to travel aroundby driving the pulley 8 through the medium of a separate band and pulley17, a pinion l8, and a toothed wheel 19, which latter is keyed to thespindle of the said guide-pulley S, the other guide-pulley 9 and thesupplemental tension-ing-p ulley 10 both being followers rotated only bythe friction of the band passing around them.

The gripper attachments 12 for holding the pens during grinding consistof a pair of levers 21 22, jointed to one another at 23 and having adouble-armed spring surrounding the joint-pin, the tendency of which isto keep the gripping-jaws 24 25 constantly closed and to automaticallyclose the said jaws after they have been opened to receive a pen. Eachof the said gripping attachments is secured by riveting or otherwise tothe conveyer-band in the longer direction of the travel of said band, sothat a pen introduced upside down between said jaws is gripped by themand held transversely to the direction of the bands travel with thepoint end projecting beyond the edge of the said band to such an extentthat its curved top side is presented to pass over the periphery of theemery-wheel, which is arranged at the side of the conveyer-band with itsperiphery lying in the path traversed by the point end of the grippedpen. Then the grippers are disposed relative to the band in the mannerdescribed, the curved tail end 26 of the lever 21 of each gripper as itis carried around is acted upon, for openingthe jaws, by means of acam-block 27, adj ustably mounted above the band and a little to oneside of the feed attachments upon an extension 28 of the tension-pulleybracket 7.

The feeding of the pens is performed by passing them bottom upward andsingly by the fingers of an attendant along an openended race or channel29, formed in the top of an extension 30 of the feed-table, which ismounted upon a bracket 31, projecting from the front side of theextension-bracket 7. This race is directed at right angles to the travelof the conveyer-band and the path of traverse of the grippers, whilelocated in the same axial line as the feed-race, but upon the oppositeside of the gap 32, through which the band and grippers travel, is ahorizontally-disposed electromagnet 33, carried by an arm 34, extendingfrom the upright bracket 7. The core of the magnet, which is disposedexactly in line with the open-ended feed-race, is directed through aslot 61 in the arm 34;, and the end 62 is riveted at 63 to the free endof a spring-tongue 67, attached at the other end Get to the arm 34 bymeans of a screw 65 and adjusted laterally-21 (3., toward thefeed-raceby means of the set-screw 66, whereby the machine may beadapted to accom modate various lengths of pen, and provision is madefor exactly determining the position which the pen shall take within thejaws of a gripper. The strength of the magnet is so regulated that it iscapable of just attracting the pen (alter the linger of the attendanthas been removed from it) out of the feed-race, across the gap 32, andup to the end 62 of its core 60. The pen is then lightly retained inthis position by the attractive force exerted by the magnet, and issupported across the said gap 32 by its point and heel ends,respectively, lying within the open end of the feed-race 29 and upon arest-ledge 35, carried by the spring-arm, immediately below the end ofthe magnet-core. The electricallyretained pen is thus supported at aplane a little above that of the conveyer-band until it is seized by thejaws of one of the traveling grippers, which are secured to theconveyer-band with their jaws leading or coming around first in thedirection of travel of the band. \Vith this arrangement a pen may be fedinto position before the jaw which is to grip it comes along, and it isretained and supported in the manner described until a gripper with itsjaws open (this opening having been previously accomplished by theaction of the fixed cam-block 27 upon the tail end 26 of the jaw-lever,as shown in Fig. travels up to the said pen lying across its path, andat the time when the seating or gripping parts of the jaws come over thepen the tail end of the jaw-lever is cleared from the cam, and then thejaws are by the expansion of their spring automatically closed onto thepen, which is firmly held and carried along by the gripper and presentedto the action of the emery-bob or grinding-surface, after which the jawsare again opened for releasing the pen by being made to wipe past aroller 36, mounted in the space between the bracket 7 and over which theconveyer passes after having nearly completed its traverse. The releasedpen is then knocked out of the jaws by the action of the gripper orejector 37. (Shown in Fig. 2.) To insure that the opened jaws of thegrippers shall be properly presented to the fed-in pen, a roller 38 isarranged immediately below the gap 32, so as to prevent any inadvertentsagging of the band at this point.

The cam-block 27 for acting on the curved tail ends of thegripper-levers and opening out the jaws previous to the same beingadvanced up to the fed-in, supported, and electrically-retained pen isvertically adjustable upon its bracket and has a curved wipingsurface at39 and a sudden shoulder or straight edge at 40, so that when thelever-tail is made to wipe under the curved back edge it is depressedfor opening the jaws and then on clearing the lug the sudden shoulder orIIO straight edge of the lug will allow the jaw to be immediately closedonto the pen to be gripped by the action of its spring.

The partof the conveyer-band which is extended beyond'the follower orguide-pulley 9 is made to pass overthe supplementary guide andtensioning pulley 10, which is of smaller diameter than either oftheother pulleys, so that the vertical distance between the opposite sidesof the. band gradually di-' 44, which is itself supported by the uprightbracket boltedon the extension 3 of the principal base-plate or table.The two blocks 42 are coupled together by a frame or stirrup 45, towhich is attached one end of a cord 46, passing over a pulley 47,carried by an arm or extension 48 of the housing 44, the other end ofsaid cord having suspended from it a tensioning-weight e9, whereby aconstant or unvarying pull is applied to the supplementary pulley 10,and the conveyer-band running around it is kept taut or evenlytensioned, while the pressure with which the points of the pens areapplied to the grinding-surface through the medium of the tensioned bandis automatically regulated.

To limit the backward movement of the slides 42 by the pull of theconveyer-band acting in opposition to the tensioning ei fort of thesuspended weight,adjustable stop-pins 50 are directed through the wallsof the housing and extend into the slots 42, wherein the said blockswork. Further, in order to permit of the vertical adjustment of thesupplementary pulley 10 the slotted sides 51 of the housing may be madeto slide within dovetail channels 52 and be provided with setscrews 53,working through fixed bottom bars 54, by the rotation of which screwsthe said frame sides may be raised or lowered to the desired extent,carrying the pulley 10 along with them.

In order to provide rigid bearings or supports for the gripperattachments during the time that they are being acted upon by theopening cam block 27 and the releasingroller 36, respectively, wearrange on the inas steadiers for preventing oscillation or sag of theband as it travels around. The plates 55 56 are carried by sleeves oreyes 57, adjustably secured by screw-pins'58 to a carrier-rod 59, fixedto the extension-bracket 3. The adjustment of these plates relative tothe band is accomplished by shifting them up or down the carrier-rod tothe required extent and. then fixing them by set-screws.

The application of our inventionto niachines for straight grinding andpolishing steel or other metal pens difiers in no essential respect fromits applic'ation'to a cross-v grinding machine as herein described.

Havingfully described our invention, what we desire to claim andsecureby Letters Pat cut is 1. In a machine for grinding and polishingpens, the combination ofa conveyer having means for-holding the pens,means for feeding the pens, including an electromagnet arranged injuxtaposition to the conveyer, and serving to hold the pens in the pathof the pen-holding means on said conveyer.

2. In a machine for grinding and polishing pens, the combination of aconveyer provided with grippers for holding the pen and a grinding andpolishing device, said grippers being arranged lengthwise of theconveyer and having jaws adapted to secure the pens and feeding meansfor feeding the pens, including a magnet arranged to hold the pens inthe path of the jaws.

3. In a machine for grinding and polishing pens, the combination of agrinding and polishing device, of a conveyer having jaws arranged inpairs, the respective jaws serving to grip the pens, means for actuatingthe jaws, and superposed plates between which the conveyer is arrangedto travel, said plates being adjustably mounted and cooperativerespectively with the jaw-actuating means.

4. In a machine for grinding and polishing pens, the combination of agrinding and polishing device, a conveyer having means for holding thepens and presenting them successively to said grinding and polishingdevice, means for feeding the pens crosswise of the line of travel ofthe conveyer,including an electromagnet, and a spring cooperative withthe core of the magnet, the spring being adjustably mounted and arrangedin the path of the pens as they progress toward said'conveyer.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JAMES WARD MILLIGAN. HENRY RALLINGS. Witnesses:

HENRY SKERRETT,

HARRY PRATT.

